Published by De Gruyter

Volume 6 Issue 2

Issue of European Review of Contract Law

Contents
Journal Overview

June 18, 2010

The Limits of Contract Law in the Regulatory State

Giuseppe Bellantuono

Page range: 115-142

Abstract

There are many signs that contemporary European contract law is charged with regulatory tasks. Can the DCFR model rules be employed when the regulatory nature of contracts becomes apparent? To answer this question, the article uses the example of network access contracts in the energy sector and compares the enforcement mechanisms adopted in sector-specific regulation with the remedies laid down in the DCFR. The main finding is that cross-fertilizations between sector regulation and general contract law do occur, but the DCFR does not provide satisfactory answers to the issue of balancing the private interests of the parties and the public interests related to the competitive dynamics of markets. It is suggested that new principles are needed, which explicitly include an assessment of the impact on regulatory goals among the requisites for the application of contract remedies. Résumé Il y a plusieurs signes que le droit européen des contrats contemporain est en charge de tâches réglementaires. Est-ce que les règles modèles du Projet de cadre commun de référence (DCFR) peuvent être employées quand la nature réglementaire des contrats devient apparente? Pour répondre à cette question, l'article utilise l'exemple des contrats d'accès à un réseau dans le secteur de l'énergie et compare les mécanismes d'exécution adoptés dans la réglementation propre au secteur avec les remèdes proposés dans le DCFR. Le principal résultat de l'analyse est qu'il y a des influences réciproques entre les réglementations sectorielles et le droit commun du contrat, mais le DCFR ne fournit pas de réponses satisfaisantes à la question du balancement des intérêts privés des parties avec les intérêts publics liés à la dynamique compétitive des marchés. Il est suggéré que de nouveaux principes seraient nécessaires, qui incluraient explicitement une évaluation de l'impact sur les objectifs de réglementation parmi les conditions requises pour l'application des remèdes contractuels. Kurzfassung Das heutige Europäische Vertragsrecht, das zeigt sich allenhalben, weist deutlich zunehmend regulatorische Gehalte auf. Die Frage stellt sich, ob das Modell des DCFR in solch einem Umfeld überhaupt angewandt werden kann. Um eine Antwort auf diese Frage zu geben, fokussiert sich der vorliegende Artikel auf Netzzugangsverträge im Energiesektor und vergleicht den sektorspezifischen regulatorischen Durchsetzungsmechanismus mit dem Strauß von Rechtsmitteln, die das DCFR vorsieht. Im Kern geht die Antwort dann dahin, dass sich eine Befruchtung des DCFR durch solche regulatorischen Ansätze zwar durchaus feststellen lässt, dass der DCFR jedoch insgesamt keine überzeugenden Antworten auf die Kernfrage findet, wie denn private Parteiinteressen mit den öffentlichen Interessen in Einklang zu bringen sind, die in der Wettbewerbsdynamik auf Märkten angelegt sind. Die Schlussfolgerung geht dahin, dass neue Prinzipien nötig sind, in denen sich unter den Voraussetzungen für die Anwendung von Rechtsbehelfen ausdrücklich auch auflistet findet, dass dabei die Auswirkungen in den Blick zu nehmen sind, die der jeweilige Rechtsbehelf auf diese öffentlichen Interessen und regulatorischen Ziele zeitigt.

June 18, 2010

Common Frame of Reference and UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts: Coexistence, Competition, or Overkill of Soft Law?

Stefan Vogenauer

Page range: 143-183

Abstract

This paper compares the scope, the purpose, the legal effect and the content of the emerging Common Frame of Reference on the one hand and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts on the other. It predicts that the two instruments will largely coexist side by side, rather than compete for potential users. The author further argues that, in the area of commercial law, there is no strong need for a non-binding, or ‘soft’ Common Frame of Reference because the UNIDROIT Principles are sufficiently capable of performing the functions that such a Frame of Reference can legitimately claim to fulfil: the Common Frame of Reference may be just one soft law instrument too many. Résumé Cet article compare la portée, le but, l'effet juridique et le contenu du Cadre Commun de Référence naissant d'une part, et les principes d'Unidroit relatifs aux contrats du commerce international d'autre part. Il prédit que les deux instruments coexisteront largement côte à côte, plutôt que de se faire concurrence vis-à-vis d'utilisateurs potentiels. L'auteur soutient en outre que, dans le domaine du droit commercial, il n'y a pas un fort besoin d'un Cadre Commun de Référence non obligatoire et ”mou”, car les principes d'Unidroit sont suffisants pour remplir les fonctions qu'un tel Cadre de Référence peut légitimement revendiquer : le Cadre Commun de Référence est alors peut-être juste un instrument de ”droit mou” de trop. Kurzfassung Der Beitrag vergleicht die Anwendungsbereiche, die Funktionen, die Rechtswirkungen und die Inhalte des in Entstehung begriffenen Gemeinsamen Referenzrahmens mit denen der UNIDROIT Grundregeln der Internationalen Handelsverträge. Der Verfasser erwartet, dass die beiden Regelwerke mehr oder weniger nebeneinander existieren und kaum in einen Wettbewerb um potentielle Nutzer treten werden. Er vertritt ferner die Auffassung, im Bereich des Rechts der Handelsverträge bestehe kein ausgeprägter Bedarf an einem nicht-bindenden, „weichen“ Referenzrahmen, da die UNIDROIT Grundregeln diejenigen Funktionen, deren Erfüllung ein derartiger Referenzrahmen für sich in Anspruch nehmen kann, hinreichend ausüben können: ein „weicher“ Gemeinsamer Referenzrahmen ist hier schlichtweg überflüssig.

June 18, 2010

Case: CJEU – Sturgeon and others

Kåre Lilleholt

Page range: 184-191

June 18, 2010

Case: CJEU – Quelle

Kåre Lilleholt

Page range: 192-196

June 18, 2010

Zum neuen Rumänischen Zivilgesetzbuch – Vertragsrechtlicher Teil

Christian Alunaru

Page range: 197-216

June 18, 2010

Franchising in European Contract Law (A comparison between the main obligations of the contracting parties in the Principles of European Law on Commercial Agency, Franchise and Distribution Contracts (PEL CAFDC), French and Spanish law), by Odavia Bueno Diaz, European Legal Studies, vol 8, Sellier European law publishers, 2008

Muriel Chagny

Page range: 217-220

About this journal

This Journal deals with contract law and serves as a pan-European platform for discussion and analysis. The concept of a European Contract Law is still rather recent: the phrase was first coined in the 1990s. Since the early 2000s when this journal was created, European Contract Law has come to encompass an increasingly comprehensive body of law. There were three driving forces behind this development: the EC harmonisation of laws in the area of the internal market, a generally increased interest in comparative law discussions in contract law, and the European Commission’s Communication on European Contract Law, the Commission’s Action Plan and the Common Frame of Reference process. These developments brought about a changed climate of discussion. The foundations of contract law, examined from many perspectives and in view of various national legal systems and an increasing number of disciplines, are currently being discussed in great detail in the European arena. In 10 years contract law may be the first area of European private law to be regulated in a fully fleshed out European Code.

European Contract Law comprises diverse areas of the law such as sales, standard contract terms, distribution chains, marketing practices, research and development agreements, contract law copyright aspects, financial and investment services contracts, insurance contracts and e-commerce as well as non-discrimination within and beyond labour law and more generally, important aspects of labour contracts and other symbiotic contracts.

The importance and breadth of the field and the methods and questions involved are such that ERCL has established itself as the specialised European journal in this area. Since 2004 the standard of information and discussions on this platform have been consolidated: ERCL discusses the body of law in three sections: articles, case law, and literature on EC Contract Law. This takes place mainly in book reviews and, in addition, contains short sections on the most recent EC legislation, sectoral developments, national developments and other news. The Review focuses on existing law at the EC level and all rules influencing the formation, content and execution of contracts from default rules to regulation, from marketing aspects to the content of contracts, from consumer (and also labour) law to general contract law. The Review is open to a variety of approaches and provides the opportunity to read traditional 'dogmatic' explanations of the upcoming and existing law, assessments through comparative law studies as well as economic analysis and discussions of the philosophical foundations and major structural features. The Review is and has been the site of intense discussion of proposals for codification or, more generally, systemisation and comprehensive development of contract law at the EC level. The European Contract Law Code is too realistic an option and much too important not to be thoroughly discussed as transparently as possible with as many competing ideas and approaches as possible. Several special issues have followed this process in great detail. The journal is meant to help in establishing a functional market of ideas in one of the core areas of private law and one of the most important areas of European private law. ERCL is the journal covering this large body of law and the modern solutions to the problems encountered.